OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Invests $3.16 Million in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,162,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on GWW. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,120.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 3.0%

GWW stock opened at $1,067.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $51.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $874.98 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $994.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,065.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.62 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $602,773.08. This represents a 56.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.